


If My Heart Was a House...

by Clearnoise



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-26 00:17:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15651876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clearnoise/pseuds/Clearnoise
Summary: ... You'd be home. Five times Matt tried to propose to Gavin, and one time he actually managed to ask the question.





	If My Heart Was a House...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rothecooldad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rothecooldad/gifts).



> I wrote this fic for my good friend Ro. I hope you all like it, as this quickly went from a cute little fic about a proposal to the 3.3k word monster that you see before you.

It was Christmas day the first time Matt Bragg realized he wanted to spend forever with Gavin Free. Surrounded by the crew's laughter and happiness, sharing chaste kisses and cuddled up together opening presents, he knew that he wanted Gavin more than anything else. The next day he went to a jewelry store for the first time without the intention to rob it, ordered a custom ring, and began his planning.  
\-------

It took a while for the ring that Matt ordered to be ready, and he used that time to plan the perfect evening out. He bought himself a nice suit, and made reservations at that new restaurant in town that Gavin had been interested in checking out. He spent days agonizing over what he would say and how he would present the ring to Gavin. The day before their date, Matt went to the restaurant and told them what he was going to do, and asked them if they would write the words marry me on their dessert when it was brought to the table. Having accomplished all the preparation he could, Matt returned home, hoping that Gavin wouldn’t notice the nervous energy rolling off of him. 

Gavin was completely astonished by the effort Matt seemed to be going through. He knew he wasn't forgetting an anniversary or special occasion, so he let Matt lead him to their table in the restaurant and sat down. The place was as gorgeous as he’d anticipated, and opulence dripped from every surface. It was exactly the kind of place that Gavin loved and Matt despised. Both men ordered their food and began chatting, their conversation flowing as easily as it ever did. They were the loudest ones in the restaurant, laughing freely at each other’s jokes and the stories they were telling each other. No one dared reprimand them however, seeing as the Golden Boy was a familiar face in LS, particularly in the more affluent circles. 

“Matthew, what-” Their entrees had been cleared and Gavin was halfway through asking Matt why he suddenly looked so nervous when the first shot rang out. Both jolted as the vase of flowers on their table shattered into a million pieces. Thankfully for them, the entire crew had failsafes for when this sort of thing happened. Gavin immediately pressed the button on his watch that would alert the nearest crew members where he was and that he was in trouble. (Matt and Gavin had written that particular piece of coding together after a lads night out turned sour and Geoff threw a fit. Both men recall that particular project as the one where they fell in love with the other. Long days and nights tirelessly working on a difficult project together will do that.) 

The two men immediately moved together, finding cover behind the bar. They used the confusion of the many patrons screaming and trying to run to assess the situation. Gavin recognised the men waving the guns around as a crew that had been trying to make a deal for some space in Fake territory. Geoff hadn’t liked the leader’s ideology, and had sent his Golden Boy to turn them down. Apparently, they hadn’t liked that, judging by the profanity and bullets peppering the walls behind them. 

Thankfully for the boys, Ryan and Michael had just wrapped up a job and were winding down nearby on the beach. As such, they were pretty much immediately ready to bail Gavin out of whatever ridiculous situation he had managed to get tangled up in this time. Within minutes, they had arrived at the restaurant and taken care of the rival crew members. Matt was glad that they hadn’t gotten hurt, but disappointed that his perfect night had been ruined. He would have to get back to the drawing board.  
\-------

The last couple of weeks had been grueling. Both of them had been drowned in work for the crew. Gavin was out late most nights, and Matt didn’t even come home for three days at one point, opting instead to nap at his desk between tasks if he needed to. Finally when the jobs started slowed down and they had some room to breathe, Matt planned another perfect date. A night for them to focus on each other and not the crew. 

First, he took Gavin to their favorite little seaside cafe for dinner. After they ate, they walked down the beach until they came to the pier. Once there, Matt led Gavin to the arcade, where they spent hours and several hundred dollars trying to one up each other at all of the games. When they finally leave the arcade they are leaning against each other, breathless with laughter. The full moon was high overhead and the pier was lit up with colorful neon lights. Gavin took Matt’s hand, pointing excitedly at the ferris wheel where their first kiss had been. The moment was perfect. Matt stopped walking, tugging on Gavin’s arm to stop him as well. His free hand slipped into his hoodie pocket, where the ring rested in its little velvet box. Gavin turned, already questioning why Matt was stopping when-

“Boi!” Something more interesting caught his eye. Gavin slipped his hand out of Matt’s and waved wildly, calling out to Michael and Lindsay, who had just stepped off of one of the rides just behind Matt. Matt, for his part, was absolutely flabbergasted. He turned around dumbly, the hand holding the ring box held loosely at his side as Gavin bounced up to the other couple and hugged Lindsay. Michael laughed, turned to greet Gavin’s forgotten boyfriend, and noticed the little box held at Matt’s side. He pretended not to notice as Matt scrambled to hide the box once more before Gavin turned back around. If Matt wanted help to propose to Gavin, he would ask. It wasn’t Michael’s place to interfere.  
\----------

Jobs went wrong sometimes. They all knew that. But this job was supposed to be an easy one. It was a simple weapons and equipment deal, with a supplier that they’d worked with before. Unfortunately, suppliers could be bought out, and that is exactly what happened. A rival crew had bribed their supplier into leaving a trap for the Fakes at this meeting. Because it had been a known supplier that had never given them trouble before, Gavin went to the meeting with only Jeremy as his backup. Even then, Jeremy waited for Gavin in the car, listening in on the coms. 

Neither of them saw the explosion coming. As soon as Gavin approached the door to the warehouse where the meeting was to take place, a proximity mine exploded, throwing Gavin back several feet where he crashed down onto the asphalt. Jeremy sat in stunned silence for a moment, calling in for help before rushing out of the car to pull Gavin’s limp body behind cover as a small team of people came out of the building while opening fire. He fought desperately, knowing that he was fighting for Gavin’s life as well as his own. He took out two of the rival crew members easily before the remaining assailants realized that this would be more of a challenge than the cleanup job they’d been promised and dove behind cover. 

The shootout felt like it lasted forever for Jeremy, when finally his backup arrived. The B-team came swooping in, taking out the shooters and whisking Gavin and Jeremy away for medical attention. Steffie, the crews resident doctor looked Gavin over and found that the kevlar vest he’d been wearing had protected him from the worst of the shrapnel. His lungs and other organs seemed to be unaffected by the blast by some miracle. However, he’d hit his head pretty hard coming down from the blast and had yet to wake up from unconsciousness. She told Geoff and Matt that if he didn’t wake up within 24 hours, then they would need to take him to an actual hospital, because there might be significant damage to his brain. As Geoff assembled the crew to tell them the news, Matt was allowed into the room Gavin was in. He settled down at his partners bedside and held his limp hand. Looking at Gavin’s unnaturally still face, Matt allowed the stress of the last couple hours wash over him and began to cry. He didn’t notice the rest of the crew opening the door and peeking in as he began to speak. 

“Gav, I need you to wake up. You’re supposed to be the strong one of the two of us, the one that can get himself out of any situation. You have to wake up so that I can give you this ring and we can have a dumb completely over the top wedding where everything is decorated in gold and I get to tell you that I’ll love you for the rest of our crazy lives. And maybe someday we’ll retire and have a houseful of cats and write dumb codes together. But that won't happen if you don’t wake up.” Michael, being the only one not blindsided by the knowledge the Matt wanted to propose, walked up to Matt and laid a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey. You said it yourself, Gavvy’s a survivor. He won’t let something like a little explosion kill him. He’ll wake up, you’ll see. And then you can propose to him and we’ll make sure not to interrupt you this time." Matt offered Michael a watery smile as Gavin’s hand twitched in his.  
\----------

After the explosion incident, Matt and Gavin were pretty much inseparable. Matt was at Gavin’s side pretty much all day, every day, helping him as he recovered from his injuries. Gavin wasn’t allowed to do any strenuous activities for a couple weeks as he healed. This included sex, much to Gavin’s irritation. Nothing he said budged Matt’s opinion. Usually Matt was fairly open to Gavin’s crazy ideas, and he was obviously very attracted to the other man, but the explosion had scared him badly. He was unwilling to go against anything Steffie said. Eventually, after Gavin had gotten frustrated and snapped at him, Matt sat his partner down and explained why exactly he was so unwilling to do anything that might potentially hurt Gavin, no matter how astronomical the risk might be. 

 

When Steffie finally cleared Gavin for activity, he began to make plans to thank Matt for his attention. He ordered both of their favorite takeout dishes, and loaded up their favorite game to play together on their Xboxes. Matt raised his eyebrow when he came home to a hot dinner and good games, but chose not to say anything. As most of their evenings did their ‘date’ ended with the television left forgotten in the background as they lost themselves in each other, making out on the couch. However, like the rest of Gavin’s time healing, just when things started to get heated, Matt began to pull away. The longer he let it go on, the harder it was to tell Gavin no. That night, Gavin wasn’t having any of it. 

He lent up to Matt’s ear and murmured, “Went to see Steffie today. She’s cleared me for all strenuous activity. That is, if you think you’re up for it”. Gavin laughed and stretched, grinding down into Matt’s lap before standing up and beginning to walk away. 

“Wait what?!” Matt’s eyes were glued to the way Gavin’s hips swayed. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier this is great news!” Gavin laughed again and shucked his shirt off, tossing it at his dumbstruck boyfriend. 

“Well, Matthew, I knew there were a couple things we’ve been missing out on because I was hurt and I thought this would be a good opportunity to make up for some lost time.” A flash of gold lace just above Gavin’s waistband caught Matt’s eye and his mouth went dry. “Are you coming, love?” Gavin disappeared into the bedroom, grinning like the cat who caught the canary.  
-  
Matt sighed and held Gavin closer as they revelled in the afterglow of their orgasms. He had missed feeling that close to Gavin. It was nice to not have to worry about his health anymore, and as Matt buried his face in Gavin’s hair while they came down from their highs, he’d never felt more content. It felt Right. 

“Gavin, marry me.” It came out more as a sigh than the declaration he’d intended and was slightly muffled by Gavin’s hair, but that was fine. 

Suddenly, it was very much not fine. Matt immediately began to panic internally. This was not the time to be proposing! The ring was in his bag by the door, they were both naked in bed, there was still lube drying on the sheets for christ sake, what the hell was he thinking?

“What was that, love? I couldn’t hear you.” Matt went limp, having not even realized he’d tensed up. 

“Oh, I was just saying that we should take a shower. We’re both sticky.” Good save, Matt. Good save.  
\-----

The FAHC didn’t really pull heists on the holidays anymore. Not since they grew large enough, stable enough, to be able to afford to. No, they much preferred spending the holidays together like the big dysfunctional family that they were. Most members of the crew didn’t speak to their families anymore, for a variety of reasons, but some of then did. Gavin was one of the few that still had that contact. His family wanted him to join them in England over Thanksgiving, since all of his American friends would be busy celebrating the holiday, and they wanted him to bring his boyfriend. He and Matt both agreed, and the plans were set. 

The whole day had been amazing. The only downside was that Dan had told Gavin he couldn’t make it this time around. Gavin was so happy to see all of his family again, and they spent all day walking around town together. When they got back to his parents’ house, they lit a fire in the fire pit they had in the yard and sat around talking for hours, catching up and telling all sorts of crazy stories. Matt felt like he knew Gavin so much better after just one day with his family. He stared down at the ring box held in his hand as he sat on his boyfriend’s bed in his childhood bedroom, waiting for him to come back from the bathroom. He slid the box into his pocket as footsteps approached the door, and stood to hug Gavin when he returned and closed the door behind him. 

“Gav, today has been so amazing.” Matt pulled away, but held Gavin’s hands as he spoke. “Thank you so much for bringing me here to meet your family. It’s been so cool to get to meet the people who were around you when you were a kid. And they’ve all been so nice! You know I didn’t really have much in the way of family when I was growing up, and everyone’s being so inclusive-" Matt’s speech was interrupted by a loud knocking on the bedroom door.

“I’m sorry love, they’ll leave in a tick. What were you saying?” Gavin smiled at Matt.

“I just wanted you to know how much I love-" The knocking returned, but this time, a shout accompanied it. 

“Come on B, you wouldn’t really leave me standing out here in the hallway like a mug, would you? You two aren’t getting it on in there, are you? Your parents are down the hall!” Red faced, Gavin sprinted to the door and flung it open. 

“B shut up! I thought you weren't going to be able to make it, you smeg!” Gavin laughed, ecstatic that his friend was actually in front of him and not hundreds or thousands of miles away. 

“Yeah, well, your mum called me all up in arms about how disappointed you were that I wasn’t going to be here, so I moved some things around and ta-da, here I am. She thought it would be a nice surprise. I’m set up in the guest room, like usual. Do you guys want to put a movie on and catch up for a bit or are you too tired?” Dan grinned down at Gavin. 

Matt sighed quietly at the hopeful look Gavin sent him, then nodded and faked a smile. “Yeah, totally! It’ll be good to catch up! You guys go ahead, I need to grab something out of my bag and then I’ll be out.” Gavin beamed and bounced up to give Matt a quick peck on the lips before following Dan out and down the hallway. 

Matt tucked the ring away in its little hidden pocket in his bag. He just wanted the proposal to be perfect, was that too much to ask for? Gavin deserved the world and Matt couldn’t even ask one silly question. Oh well. Back to the drawing board. 

Again.  
\----------

The little box that he'd had in his pocket for almost a year felt like it weighed a ton as he grabbed Gavin's hand so that his boyfriend would face him. This was not what he had planned... He'd wanted to do something special because Gavin deserved it. Gavin deserved to have Matt's love for him screamed from the rooftops, carved into every stone, written in the clouds, but instead the two of them were in the penthouse kitchen. They were covered in pancake batter and laughing as Michael raged at Jeremy for having started their little food fight. The gents had wandered in because of the noise, Geoff and Jack complaining about the mess while Ryan giggled madly. Matt and Gavin were both still in their lounging clothes. It was no fancy dinner, no public display, no outrageous demonstration of affection, but suddenly Matt couldn't wait another second. "I've been carrying this around for too long, waiting for the right moment. But I've got to tell you, there is no right moment. So I'm going to ask you right this second." 

The noise of the crew fell to the background for both men and Matt sunk to one knee, and Gavin's free hand flew to his mouth as he realized what was happening while Matt dug out the little box that had irked him for so long. "Gavin Free, you light up my life. Before I joined the Fakes I was a nobody, then you came crashing into my safehouse, all golden and shining like the sun, and I knew I was fucked. My life was boring before I met you, and now every day is a new adventure. You've taught me so much in hacking, and in how to make the most of the time we've got." As Matt continued to speak, little squeaking noises fell from Gavin's mouth while his eyes welled up with tears. "You're worth so much more than gold to me, Gavin. I realized last Christmas that none of this: the adventures, or the money, or the fame, none of it means anything if you're not there with me making dumb comments and being a menace. But until now I couldn't find the right time to ask you. So, Gavin Free, Golden Boy of the Fake AH Crew, will you marry me?” Matt was crying now too, smiling up at Gavin with eyes full to the brim with all the emotion that he couldn’t put into his words. All of his adoration, his love, his desire to be with Gavin forever. 

“Of course I’ll marry you, Matthew! I’d like nothing more.” Gavin dropped to his knees with Matt, throwing his arms around his boyfr- fiance's shoulder and kissing him soundly as Matt slipped the ring onto his finger. 

They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t even notice the crew wolf whistling and cheering and recording in the background, congratulations intermingled with the obligatory teasing and friendly insults. Well, they noticed. (Hard not to with a crew as loud as theirs.)

They just didn’t care.


End file.
